Adjustable flagpole



Jan. 7, 1930. E. MILLER- ADJUSTABLE FLAGPOLE Filed Jan. 12, 1929 Earl Mzzl-7;

Patented Jan. 7, 1930 ED; STATES IEA-RL MILLER, OF KANSASCITY, KANSAS ADJUSTABLE ,FIJAGPOLE Application: led January 12,' `1929.. HSerial-im). 332,134.

My; inventiolrzrelates to flagpoles of the type used on buildings,playgrounds, parks, andi the like-and `one object of; the invention is to..produee.a fla'gpolewhioh may be. swu-ng froma vertical .to a. horizontal position so that it can be cleaned or painted without requiring the workmanto. climb the lagpole;-

Anotherobject-is to'provide means whereby: the flagpole lcanr be; reliably secured or 1.0 looked in vertical position to its base, so that tliere'wills be 11o-.danger o. the lagpole being blown. .down by high winds lilith;th'exabove.andy other objectsV in View, whielrwill hereinafter. appear, reference will now befhad to .the-accompanying drawing,.in

Fig..lA isa brokensideelevation of the flagpole-secured` in a. vertical posit-ionV upon its baser" Fig; :2. is an enlargedv 'broken side elevation,spartly in. section, of theA lower portion oit-:the lagpolein a partially tilted position uponits-base.I

Fig; 3 is 1a: detail: perspective ViewV ot the stationary` base...

Figi f4 isV an; enlarged cross. sect-ion on line torF-igl.

Referring in detail .tothedifferent parts, 2 in general-designates thezbaseoonsisting in 310 the presentinstanoe ofia lower-.section 4: and an: upper section 6, the latter of which-is rigidly secured to the former. The lower` section- 4. may besupported. upon a building 01- inthe ground iniany suitablemanner. In: the present instaneel have shown it embedded in a Concrete foundation.

The upperseetion 6 ispreferably oastin one .pieceas 'shown and: consists of three side walls .10,11 and 12,.,l1inge;members,r 1.4 at `its upper endfandlan enlargement v16 at` its lower portion whiehisadapted torest uponthe oonorete .found ationS. The; side walls. l0 and; 12 are arranged.iniparallelismto each otherand spaced apart to leave Va pocket. 1.8.,or a purpose whichl will hereinafter. appear. The side Walls 10 and. '12; also havev longitudinal obliquemargins .22, which slop er towards-their upper ends.

24j-in, general.designatesthe "lagpole which 'w isiipreferably madeup.- of a lower section 26.,

an. upper section.. 281 .and a, suitable `number ofV intermediate sections SO'aIl-O: which are firmly-r secured together in any. f si i.itable;man-y ner.. The lowerseotion. 2.6; is preferably cast in one .piece and has longitudinaloblique margins` 32. sloping outwardly towards their lower ends.. and adapted to: tagainstthe oblique. margins22o thebase section 2. when the iiagpole'24-xoooupies the. Vertical Vposition` disolosedby. Fig.. 60 A ylongitudinal tongueft isyormed' between thev margins 32 to enter; the; pocket; 18. and f assistnholding theziiagpole; 24. lfrom :lateral movement when aperpendioular position. The lowerseetion `2,6 of the. iiagpole is lproH videdadjaoent'tothezupper'endoftlie tongue ,34 with. a hingeymemben Badapted to: fit between- ;tliehinge ymembers: 14, to; which it is operably secured by a. transversely e extend,-

ing pintle 38, whiohisqseeured in the hinge members 14 by.. suitable; means i suolii as; one.; or more. screwsf- 40j.

The lower-.end ot-tlieyflagpolesection 26 is providedwitli' a, counterweight 42 corre.- spendingy inrsliapeA to, the enlargement 16 on '15 the lowerend of vthegupper. base seetion 6, which is undercut as yindicated atllli Jfor the reception of` an extensont formed on the lower-.portion ofsaid oounterweight 42.

Suitable means are; providedl forfraising s0, and loweringztlle' flagpole l2.4l which in. the presentinstanoepl have shown in theform ofa windlass/liS mountedin the intermediate portion .of-'the base 2; and` equipped with a cable 50 having one; end attaeliedto an; eye-A 85. bolt- .52 `tlireadedtfin the. lower portion: of' the tongue.` 34; i .The outer end of the windlass /Jfpisv preferably of: angular configuration and provided with. aremovable .crank 5.6 whereby it may be rotated for the purpose oittwinding` y9.0. orlunwindin-g .the cable 50..

suitable means Vmay be. provided Ifor firmly securing the lagpole 211 to the baseV whensadlagpoleis in .upright position. In tlie presenti .instance-1 baveshown, the upper 9.5. sectiong; ofthe base equipped with. a plural-- ity of sore-WsxS adapted vtof-bel screwedl into.A registering openings 60, formed in the, tongue 34.9.. Thecounterweiglit 4.2 is also. provided Witliiascrew 62adapted1tobe screwed intoan; 100

opening 64 formed in the lower section 4 of the base.

The upper end of the liagpole 24 is provided with a shaft 66 equipped at its upper end with a suitable ornament such as a ball 68. A bracket 70 is swiveled upon the shaft and carries a depending shea-ve Z2 over which a line 74 is arranged to travel for the purpose of raising and lowering a flag', pennant, etc., not shown. The lower ends of the line 74 are adapted to be tied to a fitting secured to the enlargement 16 of the base 2.

In practice the lagpole 24 may be lowered by irst loosening the screws 58 and 62, after which the flagpole may be tilted from a vertical position by means of the line 74. lV hen thus tilted the flagpole 24 becomes unbalanced and can then be slowly lowered to a horizontalposition by turning the windlass 48 in a direction to unwind the cable 50. During the lowering operation of the flagpole the counterweight 42 coacts with the .windlass 48 and the cable 50 in preventing the flagpole from moving downwarlly to a reclining position too rapidly. To raise the flagpole 24 it is only necessary to turn the windlass 48 in a direction to wind up the cable 50. lllhen the flagpole is in an upright position and secured with the screws 58 and 62, it in effect, becomes an integral part of the base 2 as the tongue 34 coacts-with said screws 58 and 62 in securing the flagpole from lateral movementin any directionupon said base. The screws 58 and 62 also relieve the hinge members 14 andY 36 of substantially all strains when the pole is secured in raised position.

In some instances the windlass 48 may be dispensedl with by making the counterweight 42 heavy enough to swing the flagpole back to an upright position after it has been pulled down to a reclining position with the line 74, while in other instances the counterweight 42 may be eliminated and the raising and lowering of the flagpole accomplished only with the windlass 48 and the cable 50. However, I find by using both the windlass 48 and the counterweight 42 that the operation of raising and lowering the llagpole can be accomplished more readily than when one or the other is dispensed with.

Thile- I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention I reserve all rights to such changes and modifications as properly fall within the spirit andscope of the invention as claimed..

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. In combination, a stationary base tapered towards its upper end and including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, a fla-gpole mounted to swing upon the upper portion of said base and tapered towards its lower end to lit against the tapered portion of the base, and a longitudinal tongue on the tapered portion of the flagpole adapted to lit into said pocket when the lagpole is in upright position.

2. In combination, a stationary base including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, two of said side walls being arranged in parallelism to each other and each having a longitudinal oblique margin sloping towards its upper end, a hinge member at the upper end of said walls, a tlagpole having a hinge member at one side operably connected to the hinge member on the base, said agpole having two oblique flanges extending below the hinge member sloping outwardly towards their lower ends to lit againstthe oblique margins on the stationary base when the liagp'ole is in upright position, and a tongue on the lower portion of the flagpole adapted to fit within the pocket in the base when the flagpole is in upright position. i

3. In combination, a stationary base ta` pered towards its upper end and including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, a agpole mounted to swing upon the upper'port-ion. of said base and tapered towards its lower end to fit against the tapered portion of the base, a. longitudinal tongue on the tapered portion of the `flagpole adapted to tit into said pocket when the flagpole is in upright position, and means for raising and lowering the flagpol'e.

4. In combination, astationary base including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, two of said side walls being arranged in parallelism to each other and each having alongitudinal oblique margin sloping towards its upper end, a hinge member at the upper end of said walls, a flagpole having a hinge member at one side operably connected to the hinge member on the base, said ilagpole having two oblique flanges extending below the hinge member sloping outwardly towardstheir lower ends to tit against the oblique margins on the stationary base' when the liagpole is in upright position, a tongue on the lowery portion oi" the lagpole adapted to tit within the pocket in the base when the Hagpole is in upright position, and counterbalance means on the lower portion of said flagpole.

5. In combination, a stationary base tapered towards its upper end and including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, a flagpole mounted to swing upon the upper portion of said base and tapered towards its lower end to fit against the tapered portion of the base, a longitudinal tongue on the tapered portion oi the lagpole adapted to fit into said pocket when the Hagpole is in upright position, and screw means for securing the lagpole in upright position.

6. In combination, a stationary base including three longitudinal side walls forming a longitudinal pocket, two of said Side Walls being undercut at their lower portions, a agpole mounted to swing upon the upper portion of said base and 11a-ving an extension to fit the undercut portion of the base, and a Xindlass for raising and lowering said Hagpo e. u Y

In testimony whereof I afx my signature.

. EARL MILLER. 

